Alamance Democrat Tony Foriest is not among state senators in so-called swing districts who oppose the land transfer tax option:
…Foriest, a freshman Democrat from fast-growing Alamance County, said he can support the proposal because it requires county voters to approve it before it could go into effect. He agreed with Easley that a land transfer tax could give counties another option to raise revenues rather than relying on the property tax. The six counties in Basnight’s district have a 1 percent land transfer tax, and officials there say they have been able to keep property taxes low as a result.
“You might find yourself in a situation where the land transfer tax might be more palatable,” Foriest said.
But the concept of adding a tax to keep another tax from increasing is not an easy one for voters to understand. Nor is the idea that legislators would not be passing a tax, just passing that decision on to voters.
It’s because that particular concept just doesn’t exist. You can’t say it enough: Contrary to what they might say, government never passes a tax to keep another tax from increasing.
